I recently moved my personal source control setup from a local SourceGear Vault server to a free, hosted SVN service from Assembla.  I wanted to have access to my source code while travelling without having to keep the server running at home, and Assembla provides users with up to 1GB of space and unlimited users absolutely free for private SVN hosting.

I wasn't looking to import my entire Vault database over to SVN, so manually creating new projects in Assembla was just fine.  I setup 3 different repositories:  one for personal projects, one for code related to sessions I give, and one scratch space that I can use to test things out and delete without issue.

My main concern in going to a hosted solution is ensuring I have a current backup of my repositories should something go wrong.  Assembla provides a manual backup option via their website, but I wanted something automated.  After some searching, I learned of the svncync command.  This command allows you to mirror a SVN repository from one machine to another.  Using this I was able to come up with a pretty automated solution that should work to sync up any two SVN repositories.

I will be speaking at Visual Studio Live! in New York this May 14-17.  The conference is a full 4 day event and there’s still time to register!  The three sessions I’m presenting are:

W01 – Get Connected with Kinect 
Date: Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Time: 9:15 AM – 10:30 AM 
Level: Introductory

By now we’ve all probably tried Kinect, Microsoft’s revolutionary motion control device for the Xbox 360. But what about developing software to use the device? With the release of the official Kinect for Windows SDK from Microsoft, developers can now use this device like any other hardware peripheral from code. This session will introduce developers to the Kinect device itself, how it works, and will offer an overview of the API provided by Microsoft to retrieve image, depth, skeletal, audio, and audio position information from the device. The session will also cover some interesting uses for this information, and how it can be used in traditional applications for easier navigation to provide a more natural user interface.

I’ll be giving a session to the Tech Valley .NET Users Group (TVUG) Tuesday, March 13th at 6:30pm on the new async goodness that exists in .NET 4.5 and C# 5.0, as well as the Visual Studio Async CTP which can be used with Visual Studio 2010.  Here's the description:

Title: Writing Asynchronous Code Using .NET 4.5 and C# 5.0
Where: Tyler Technologies, Latham, NY
When: Tuesday, March 13th, 2012, 6:30-8:30PM

A variety of new features were added to the .NET 4.5 Framework, including support for easily writing asynchronous code. This session will introduce the concepts of asynchronous programming, .NET Tasks, how to ensure your UI remains responsive, and how to do all of this properly in your own applications using the new async and await keywords. If you’re looking for ways to provide a better, smoother experience for your users, don’t miss this session!

I will be speaking at Visual Studio Live! in Las Vegas this March 26-30.  The conference is a full 5 day event and there’s still time to register!  If you use code VLSPK21, you can save a nice chunk of cash off the all-access Best Value Conference Package. The three sessions I’m presenting are:

T05 - Windows 8 Metro-style Application Contracts and Extensibility
Date: Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Time: 10:45 AM – 12:00 PM 
Level: Intermediate

Contracts are a new feature of Windows 8 Metro-style applications that allow applications to interact with the operating system and other Metro-style applications in a standard way. With contracts, applications can implement interfaces to allow searching, sharing, settings, app-to-app file picking, and more. In this session, we will explore these contracts and how they can be used in any Windows 8 Metro-style application to provide a seamless, integrated experience for users.

W04 - XNA Games for Windows Phone
Date: Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Time: 9:15 AM – 10:30 AM 
Level: Introductory to Intermediate

At long last I have accepted a full-time position at Microsoft, working on the Channel 9 team, mainly doing Coding4Fun stuffs.  I'll be telecommuting from NY as I have been these past 8 years.  It's hard for me to believe that I've been doing Coding4Fun articles and projects for the team since 2006, but I'm excited that I now get to do it full-time.

Also joining the team is master UX-man Rick Barraza.  He brings a pile of amazing talent and skill that will really allow us to create some fantastic projects.  And, of course, we're joining the existing team of Dan Fernandez and Clint Rutkas, with Greg Duncan heading up the Coding4Fun blog and Kinect Project blog.

Also note that Coding4Fun is looking for a junior developer/program manager.  So, if you want to join the team, now's your chance!

Anyway, I'm very excited to be joining Microsoft, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what we can crank out as a team…